diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 86d84625c..9b458093b 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -876,7 +876,7 @@ if test "$with_python" != "no" ; then
 	    then
 		PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES=$with_python/lib/site-packages
 	    else
-		PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES=`$PYTHON -c "from distutils import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_python_lib())"`
+		PYTHON_SITE_PACKAGES=$($PYTHON -c 'from distutils import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_python_lib(True,False,"${exec_prefix}"))')
 	    fi
 	fi
     fi